Mistakes Can Be Deadly
by BlueRubyBeat
Summary: James never got recognition for himself, it was always for the people he was named after and who his father was. He wanted to be known for his own merits, now he had that chance. The thing was, he didn't know that this chance would be a deadly mistake and he didn't know if he'd come back from it.


**Mistakes Can Be Deadly**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.

 **AN:** Captain of the Ballycastle Bats for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Round 7

 **Prompt:** Write a fic inspired by The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

 **Word Count:** 1,707 words

 **~.~**

He couldn't stop. He had to keep running. If he didn't run fast enough, that man would catch him.

The trees blurred around him as he picked up speed, rushing through the forest. Turning his head, he glanced behind him to see if the man was still following him. He couldn't see him, but he knew that man was still chasing him.

"Need to be quicker," he muttered, his breath becoming labored.

With his resolve strengthened, James sped up his movement to lengthen the distance between him and his follower.

"You cannot run from me boy!" The man's voice echoed around him.

James' eyes widened and his head moved from side to side to catch a glimpse of his pursuer. The man's voice sounded so close and he couldn't tell the direction it came from. It frightened James to the point that he wasn't watching his surroundings.

'Where is he? I thought I was-' James thought before he got knocked to the ground.

Groaning James rubbed his head to alleviate some pain. Cracking open his eyes, he looked up to see what hit him. It was a branch that stopped his movements, James mustered up a glare to the offending object.

"Stupid branch," James muttered, slowly moving to a sitting position.

His head was in pain and he couldn't concentrate clearly. As he was trying to get back his thoughts, he heard a twig snap. His head shot up to look in the direction of the sound. The fast movement and his injury caused his sight to swirl.

"Well boy, finally gave up?" A voice sounded near him.

James gasped and backed up from the sound. His hands scrambled behind him and he shuffled into a tree, the very one that knocked him down. He looked up to the man and fear instilled in his gut.

"No…" he whispered, a slight tremor in his voice.

"No? Well I beg to differ."

James gulped, the sound too loud in his ears. He braced himself against the tree and lifted himself up slowly. As soon as he was standing, the man seemed to have teleported in front of him. James gasped as he was shoved against the tree, his body unmovable.

It took a moment for James to understand the situation he was in and he struggled to break free.

"Enough," the man stated, "you won't be going anywhere boy."

The command in his voice was enough to stop James from struggling. His eyes shone with fear and a whimper could be heard leaving his lips.

"Please, I didn't mean to." James begged.

"You didn't mean to what? Break my curse and awaken me?" The man laughed cruelly.

"What are you going to do to me?"

A sadistic smile curled on the man's face. "You'll be gone from this world, never to see your family again."

James' breathing hitched in his throat. No, he didn't want that, he didn't want his life to end because of a stupid mistake. A lone tear made its way down his cheek, he wished he could take it all back. He wished he never made the mistake of breaking the curse.

 **~.~**

 _ **A few months earlier**_

 **~.~**

"You'll always be known for other people James Sirius Potter! You'll never be your own person!" Scorpius Malfoy yelled as James quickly left the classroom.

James was pissed off, he didn't need Malfoy to tell him what he already knew. As he stalked the hallways other students gave him a wide berth. His expression told undue pain to whoever interrupted him.

Before he knew it, his feet took him to the entrance of the library. At first he was confused why his subconscious thought he needed the library before his brain caught up.

'Yes!' He thought excitedly. 'There must be something no one has uncovered at Hogwarts. It is well over a thousand years old after all.'

With renewed vigor, James dove into the stacks, searching for anything and everything that could be uncovered. He knew there must be some secret or puzzle that was still hidden and in need of being solved.

Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks, until finally he found something.

"Yes!" He screamed in excitement, only to get reprimanded by the librarian.

James couldn't suppress the grin on his face as his eyes roamed the page. He finally found a secret that hadn't been uncovered yet. A dark wizard was cursed for all eternity to be frozen in stone for his crimes. He was then hidden away to keep from being found and brought back. James read and connected the clues that the wizard was hidden somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.

'If I do a little more digging, I can find his final resting place and destroy his statue. Then I'll be known for something myself instead of who I was named after and who my father is. It's perfect!' James thought to himself.

It took a few more days, but James was able to piece together where the statue was in the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't too far into the forest, but the area had to be accessed with a certain ritual.

He waited until night time to do the ritual. Underneath the invisibility cloak, James shuffled along the corridor, evading any prefects and professors. It wasn't long until he reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. With a quick swish, he pulled the cloak off him and shoved it into his pack.

"Lumos…" James whispered, his voice echoed around him as he waved his lit wand in front of him.

Each step he took in the forest, a thrill shot up his spine. Pretty soon he would be different from before, he would be get the recognition for something he had done and not what someone else did.

The darkness of the forest seemed to grow with the moon's light blocked by the canopies of the trees. His senses were in overdrive as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up with every step he took. He knew he was close as the trees looked sick and dead.

"This is it…time to set my plan in motion," James said quietly, being careful to not attract attention from any beings in the forest.

The ritual took twenty minutes to prepare, but only a few moments to activate. There was nothing spectacular about the completion of the ritual. All the ritual did was uncover the resting spot of the dark wizard. The trees seemed to part before his very eyes to unveil a clearing containing only one statue in the middle and dead grass around it.

James slowly made his way to the statue with his wand ready in his palm.

"Okay, all I need to do is destroy the statue and I'm finished."

His wand was at the ready, as soon as he was going to cast a spell to destroy the statue, he heard a sound from behind him. He twirled around to find the threat but lost his footing. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, his hand scraping against the statue.

"Ow…" James muttered as he got up from the ground.

With a wince, he looked down at his hand and noticed blood on it. He looked to the statue to find that he cut himself upon a sharp point. Just as he was going to grab for his wand again, the statue started shaking. James freaked out and walked backwards, wondering what was happening.

It couldn't have been more than a few moments before the statue turned to dust and a man stood in its place. James' breath caught in his throat, he knew he messed up in that moment. He tried keep quiet as he stepped backwards to leave the clearing, but the man caught his gaze.

"Ah…well hello boy. Are you the one who freed me from my imprisonment?" The man asked, his voice sending chills down James' spine.

"I…I didn't…" James stuttered, he couldn't form a coherent sentence, his fear too encompassing.

"Thank you for freeing me but I'm going to need something else from you," he smirked darkly, pulling out a wand from his robe as he did so.

James finally found the courage to turn tail and run. He didn't care where he went, he just needed to get away. As fast as he could, he entered the darkness of the forest, hoping to escape the madman he released.

 **~.~**

 _ **Present moment**_

 **~.~**

"Shhhh…don't be afraid. It'll be painless." The dark wizard tried to reassure him, which only frightened James more.

"Please…I just want to go home…" James cried, terrified out of his mind.

"Oh you will…well your body will."

James could only stare at him in fear and confusion from that statement.

"Did you not know what I was known for boy?" The old wizard laughed. "I took over bodies after eating their insides and soul, whilst gaining their memories. I've lived for millennia causing havoc before I was stopped. And now that I'm back, I'm going to have so much fun causing some more."

"No no no no…" James kept repeating, tears freely flowing down his cheeks.

The old wizard only responded by bringing his face close to James' and opening his mouth. Black smoke left the wizards mouth and entered James'. James' body slowly started flattening and the flatter James got, the more black smoke left his body and back into the dark wizards. Only a minute or so passed before James' body was just a skin int he old man's hands.

"Finally, a new body to play with."

The old wizard opened up James' mouth and stepped into his skin. Gone was the old man, leaving only James standing in the forest.

"Ah…it's been a while since I've been in a body this young. James Sirius Potter, what lovely memories you have." James' body stated, patting himself down to get a feel of how the body worked.

"Hmm…I shouldn't talk about myself in third person, someone might get suspicious. Now to have some fun," James smirked as he made his way out of the forest to the castle, with the residents being none the wiser of the change.

 **~.~**


End file.
